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Escape clause?

Chinnaswamy Stadium | First Test – Day 5 | Around 10am – The Australians declare their second innings setting India 299 to win

It would rate as a common sense decision in line with most declarations across the history of the game. However, given the nature of the surface in Bangalore where ideas of a realistic Indian challenge to the total faded soon after the overall lead went past 250, and India’s frailty in batting in 4th innings of test matches, you can’t help wonder if Ricky Ponting played it too safe for once.

Was the threat of a Sehwag blitz so great that it prevented Ponting from declaring on their overnight score? Note that Sehwag’s average contribution in 2nd innings is roughly a third of his 1st innings scores. Not that it is an aberration. Most batsmen score the bulk of their runs in the first foray. Also, none of India’s batsmen looked comfortable in the first innings. The chances that they would launch themselves at the Australian total were slim at best.

One could argue that it is a show of confidence on the part of the Australian captain that they can bowl out the Indians in under a day. Having seen several debacles in Indian second innings, it’s not a stretch to foresee it happening again. Having said that, it is important to note that in all those instances, it took active participation by the batsmen in choosing to play some atrocious cricket (reckless and expansive shots by the top order or paralyzed defensive play by the middle order) that lead to the innings folding up meekly.

This post might be consigned to irrelevancy by the lunch session, be it rain or hara-kiri by the Indian batsmen. I can’t help but feel that the Australian skipper might have left the door open for the Indians to wriggle free, with 2-3 wickets intact at the close of play today. Let’s wait and watch.